President’s Annual Report 2013
Introduction
It has been an honour and a privilege to hold the position of President of CIPFA North East for
these last twelve months and to serve our members in the region. It’s also been truly inspiring to
work with such a dedicated and enterprising team of volunteers that make up our Executive
Committee and I’m profoundly grateful for the support of each and every one.
2013 - A Year to Remember
Throughout 2013 we hosted a range of events, attended by nearly 300 members,
delivering great quality continuous professional development, thought provoking content
and often great entertainment. Set out below is just a flavour of our programme.
Annual Dinner
The year started with around 60 CIPFA members and guests meeting at the Assembly Rooms,
Newcastle for the region’s Annual Dinner. The evening started with a drinks reception and
photographs of newly qualified members with the then Institute President Sir Tony Redmond and
the then CIPFA NE President Jane Cuthbertson.
Following an introduction from Jane and acknowledgement to
Deloitte as sponsors of the Dinner, Sir Tony Redmond gave a short
pre dinner speech, emphasising the theme of Professionalism.
Dinner was followed by an entertaining quiz hosted by the
irrepressible George Clark. Once the formal proceedings were over,
colleagues old and new developed and renewed acquaintances and
the discussions and networking continued late into the night.
Professional Update Day
Gateshead Civic Centre was the venue for our 4th annual professional development day. The
event was yet another huge success with over 70 attendees enjoying a stimulating and thought
provoking array of presentations, themed around collaboration.
The day started with Murray Rose from Darlington Borough Council explaining the approach to
collaboration taken by Tees Valley authorities. This was followed by Clare Wilson from NHS
England setting out the challenges and opportunities in the new health landscape. Next up was
Dave Jennings who described the key role of finance in working collaboratively with service
managers to develop solutions to the funding challenges of Redcar and Cleveland Council and
then Mike Tait of Northumbria Police outlined the issues facing the police service, stressing the
need to ensure that communities are at the heart of planning and the need to protect front line,
visible, policing during this austere age.
The afternoon saw presentations from Mike Cockburn, Mandi Sherlock-Storey and Rob Gee on
positive psychology, the importance of personal resilience, personal effectiveness and
leadership. Students from the region also held a session with CIPFA's James Platt regarding the
new Personal Experience Portfolio.
Annual General Meeting
The Professional Update Day was followed by the CIPFA North East Regional Annual General
Meeting (AGM), marking the end of the two year tenure of Jane Cuthbertson as President of the
Region.
Incoming president, Michael Brodie, reflected upon Jane's presidency describing her energy,
commitment and passion for CIPFA North East as inspiring and a difficult act to follow!
Joint Masterclass on Procurement Fraud
The full house signs were up at Gateshead Civic Centre when CIPFA North East, in partnership
with the North East Fraud Forum, held a master class in the prevention and detection of
procurement fraud. Speakers from NHS Protect, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and
Supply, Newcastle University and law firm Watson Burton highlighted the major risks from
procurement fraud and the measures which can be taken to mitigate these risks.
Annual Golf Day
CIPFA North East hosted its annual golf day in June, sponsored by KPMG, at
the fantastic Gosforth Golf Club – 'the Bridlepath'. The course was in
immaculate condition and with a scorching day of sunshine the scene was set
for a fabulous day of golf. With 21 players taking part the day culminated with
CIPFA North East President Michael Brodie (left) presenting the Lady Lambert
trophy to the winner, Alan Hall (right).
The North East Accountancy Awards
The awards evening took place at the Hilton Hotel, Newcastle/Gateshead in June and was a
memorable opportunity to celebrate in the company of colleagues and peers. The awards
ceremony was hosted by Carol Malia, BBC Look North presenter.
CIPFA North East were proud to sponsor the Public Sector Team of the Year Award, which
this year was won by Cleveland Police. There were successes too for CIPFA members in
the Finance Director of the Year and Employer of the Year categories.
Join Health and Social Care event
In September, CIPFA North East collaborated with the HFMA Northern Branch to host a joint
workshop on Health and Social Care. Attended by nearly 50 delegates the workshop explored
the issues and opportunities for closer working, identifying areas of good practice and how
finance can add value to the integration agenda.
James Duncan of Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust and Patrick Melia,
(then) of South Tyneside Council opened the session with fascinating insights from both an NHS
and local government perspective. They set the challenge in context, identifying the scale of
financial pressures and the need to integrate health and social care services in the medium term.
6th Form Management Games
Five teams competed in the second CIPFA North East 6th Form Management Games held at
South Tyneside College in October. Based on the fictional Borough of Emmstone the teams were
faced with the need to identify revenue savings (which increased as the day went on) whilst at
the same time bidding for grant funding. Their two major tasks were to draft a report outlining
their proposals and then do a presentation to the board of governors.
Throughout the day they were faced with interruptions and attempts to
influence their decision making, giving them exposure to everyday working
life in the public sector. After a very close competition Cramlington
Learning Village came out on top. (A big thank you to the volunteers who
made the day a success).
Annual Conference 2013
After the success of our first two annual conferences, we returned to the Sage in Gateshead in
November to hold our third conference supported by our sponsors PwC, Sellick, and Zurich
Insurance.
Sir Tony Redmond opened the conference and introduced the main theme of the day; the
interplay between local, national and international issues. After a welcome from the Mayor of
Gateshead, the Chair of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Paul Woolston, gave
an overview of the local economic environment, and the role and achievements of the LEP. He
noted the success of the North East as an exporting region and outlined the need for greater
innovation connectivity and leadership.
Duncan Selbie, the enigmatic Chief Executive of Public Health England delivered an engaging
presentation on the value of public health interventions and the importance of health and
wellbeing, which is all too often conflated with the NHS and healthcare.
James Ramsbotham of the North East Chamber of Commerce then
passionately advocated the North East as a great place to do business,
addressing how the public sector can support local businesses leveraging
benefits from collaborative procurement.
Ian Dormer of the Institute of Directors then delivered a thought provoking
presentation and was followed by Rob Gee of the Sellick Group who spoke about authentic world
class Leadership.
The final speaker of the day was Rob Whiteman, CIPFA Chief Executive
who talked authoritatively on a range of topics from the economy, through
to the future direction of CIPFA. This was followed by a lively and
challenging panel session.
Looking to the future – 2014 and beyond
The Executive Committee at CIPFA North East are passionate about being the best regional
committee we can be. During 2014 we will focus our energies on the following four enduring
priorities :
1. We will provide great services for our members through an interesting and varied series of
professional and social events
2. We will model as a regional institute the increased collaboration that our members need to
undertake in their day to day professional roles
3. We will increase our influence both regionally and nationally with local employers, regional
and national bodies and the wider profession
4. We will support our students in the region by continuing to explore options with CIPFA
nationally to deliver an improved offering
Acknowledgements
As proud as I have been to serve CIPFA members in the region this year, I count myself as
equally fortunate to have such dedicated and talented colleagues supporting me on our
Executive Committee. Our annual conference, golf day, dinner and events programme just
wouldn’t have been possible without their enthusiasm. These things don’t happen by accident.
Equally, I’d like to say thank you to all those who have supported the region through volunteering
to act as exam invigilators or supporting our wonderful 6th form management games.
And finally …
With its emphasis on public service and value for the taxpayer, CIPFA is a truly special Institute
and one which looks set to go from strength to strength in the years ahead. As a region, we have
a real opportunity to help shape the future and influence public service financial management. I’d
therefore ask every member to spare whatever time they can to help support the development of
our profession, our Institute and our region. Do please get in touch through any of the following
routes :
www.cipfa.org/regions/north-east
northeast@cipfa.org
CIPFA North East Region group
CIPFA in the North East Region
CIPFA in the North East Region page
@cipfanortheast
Michael Brodie
President – CIPFA North East
March 2014